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Staff are working the equivalent of an eight-day week by worrying about work while at home, according to a survey by recruitment company Office Angels.
More than two thirds of the 1,500 employees questioned claimed that they spent an extra 20 hours a week, the equivalent of three days, thinking or talking about work.
The survey shows that more than a third felt more stressed and tired through thinking about work, and a fifth said it felt like they had never left the office.
Only 12 per cent of the 1,500 office employees and employers questioned in the survey Working to Live or Living to Work claimed they are able to switch off after work compared with 62 per cent who said that work often dominates conversations with friends and partners.
Sunday night syndrome - when employees feel depressed about returning to work - was cited by a third of the people questioned. A quarter admitted they consistently dream about work.
Paul Jacobs, a director of Office Angels, said, “Unfortunately physically leaving the office does not necessarily mean that you can switch off.”
But not every employee felt that talking about work was negative, with 44 per cent claiming that they found it cathartic to discuss their working day.
Fifty-four per cent of those questioned by recruitment company Office Angels admitted that they think of better ideas outside work hours.
